TEMPEST

Sixteen-year-old Veronique is confused and scared when her grandmother sends her to live with her maternal aunt in New Orleans.

Veronique has lived with MawMaw in a rural area outside Natchitoches, Louisiana, for most of her life—the only memories she has of her mother are snatches of dreams. Her parents perished during Hurricane Katrina, and MawMaw is the only one who knows about Veronique’s ability to manipulate the wind. Or so she thought. New Orleans is loud and disorienting, a contrast to life on MawMaw’s farm, making it hard for Veronique to control her powers, but she must keep her abilities hidden from Auntie Eve’s family, her new boyfriend, and the shadowy organization that’s hunting her. Veronique eventually realizes that to save the people she cares about, she may have to destroy the new life she’s built. Steady pacing in the first half of the book highlights Veronique’s struggles to cope with drastic life changes. Ibura masterfully explores new and intense experiences relating to school, love, and freedom, creating fully fleshed out characters. However, the pacing gets choppy toward the climax and end of the book; Veronique (and readers) receive an overload of information without enough space to digest it before the next twists arrive, which feels jarring and out of sync with the intentional manner of the earlier buildup. Most characters present Black.

A promising premise and alluring protagonist propel this unevenly paced story.